Thread: Panda rolled out internationally on April 11 2011... AND IT SUCKS!

Google s Panda Update Goes International

How has it affected you?

I got hit heavily... We're talking about a 50% drop in revenue and traffic. But I think and hope that everything will settle down soon and get back to normal.

The problem with Google updates (Supposed to fight the spammers) is that legitimate sites are taking the hit every time.

It doesn't take a rocket science to figure it out that Google is a huge money machine fed by big money corporations and they don't give a damn about small entrepreneurs.

Every year it is worse and worse. I am wondering if Google doesn't have an agenda to wipe out a majority of small businesses.

I think these very small businesses you are talking about are complicit in this situation, often without really giving that much thought. Why are we letting ourselves be so dependent on Google? Do we really have "no other choice"? In the long term I just don't buy it.

Also, what do you mean by "legit" sites? I would say that any site which uses any blackhat tactics, deserves to be dropped. The web needs some spring cleaning.

What it ultimately comes down to is this. If you have compelling content, or a compelling service, wrapped in a compelling package with awesome design and awesome usability, as well as sense of style, and which most of all provide real value to customers (yes, customers, not eyeballs, traffic, members and what not), you will be successful no matter what Google does. We need to build sites that speak for themselves, not sites which depend on Google to translate them.

Memenode, I agree, but the majority of webmasters are very dependent on Google, through their search engine and AdSense. It is a stone cold fact that they totally control us.

If they control us, should we just accept that and let them keep doing it? If not, what can we do about it? What are we going to do about it? Things will never improve if we just accept and even contribute to the sucky state of affairs.

Originally Posted by dmi

Memenode, I agree, but the majority of webmasters are very dependent on Google, through their search engine and AdSense. It is a stone cold fact that they totally control us.

When they have a monopoly and they destroyed their competitors, of course they are in total control See how Walmart is working you will understand how the huge corporations work.

Originally Posted by memenode

If they control us, should we just accept that and let them keep doing it? If not, what can we do about it? What are we going to do about it? Things will never improve if we just accept and even contribute to the sucky state of affairs.

It is difficult to recognize but what websites will not depends somehow on Google?

Sure there are other networks, including niche networks, etc. Really not every business can afford a $5000 ad per month or thousands dollars advertising, plus if you advertise when people are not ready to buy, you waste your company money.

How do you think all the big companies started? They were once a small business and I doubt that they are doing business the same way they did when they started. Now, perhaps they or others couldn't take the same path today, because things changed, who knows...

I believe that the only sites that it hit hard in the USA are autoblogs, content farms and sites with generally poor quality content. Most of my sites saw an increase in traffic, except for the affiliate marketing sites that use merchant data feeds. Those sites got pounded down last year and were hit harder by the Farmer/Panda update.

Yeah, everyone depends upon Google. That's why you cannot ignore their Webmaster Guidelines or you run the risk of getting wacked. I didn't see any sites that got hit that were sticking to the guidelines.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

The believe that the only sites that it hit hard in the USA are autoblogs, content farms and sites with generally poor quality content. Most of my sites saw an increase in traffic, except for the affiliate marketing sites that use merchant data feeds. Those sites got pounded down last year and were hit harder by the Farmer/Panda update.

Yeah, everyone depends upon Google. That's why you cannot ignore their Webmaster Guidelines or you run the risk of getting wacked.

That's what Google is saying, but in reality that's not the case. There are too many weird things happening... Some crappy sites of mine got a huge boost, while some quality sites got hit.

Still I think it'll all settle down in a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

I didn't see any sites that got hit that were sticking to the guidelines.

I did, many. And some crappy sites got boosted... Yahoo Answers got a major boost, for example.

Originally Posted by Natural Elements

It is difficult to recognize but what websites will not depends somehow on Google?

There are degrees of dependence. Even if you can't yet be completely independent of Google you can try putting your eggs in other baskets. It's bad when you depend exclusively on Google, or too much, when its actions can literally make or break your business. I think that's just bad business.

I think customer loyalty goes beyond Google, and is ultimately more powerful than Google. If you've got loyal customers they will not drop off regardless of what Google does, and they are your seeds for Google-independent marketing through things like social media. The important thing is to have something that speaks for itself. Most spammy sites (and there really are too many of them) have none of that, so they depend completely on Google giving them nearly useless "flyby" traffic of people who don't give a damn about your brand, and are on your site solely because it showed up as a search result. As soon as they get the tidbit of information they were looking for they will leave and you wont hear from them ever again (or until they find you as another search result).

Really.. I think we should treat our sites as more than just search results. They are brands, experiences, and they should have inherent value of their own. If you don't have that, you're more dependent, and more vulnerable.

Originally Posted by Natural Elements

How do you think all the big companies started? They were once a small business and I doubt that they are doing business the same way they did when they started. Now, perhaps they or others couldn't take the same path today, because things changed, who knows...

Indeed, everyone started small, but I think what all of the huge success stories share is not playing by the established rules, providing real value, even being disruptive (instead of just rehashing an old idea), and most importantly capturing people's attention like no others. This is a rude term, but it often pops up in my mind when I think about marketing: get them by the balls. Get inside of their minds, under their skin, and then make them feel good, so good that they wont be able to imagine life without you.

That might be an extreme, but that is in a nutshell how you become independent. I don't even think it's as difficult as it sounds. It just takes time and commitment, and most of all inspiration and motivation. It has to be something that comes from the bottom of who you are, not just something you grind for money. Then it comes easy, and it's down to experimentation, thinking out of the box, and thinking as a leader, not a follower.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

That's why you cannot ignore their Webmaster Guidelines or you run the risk of getting wacked. I didn't see any sites that got hit that were sticking to the guidelines.

Well, it depends what kind of fields you are following. In retail and in our field I see a lot of crap like DMI mentionned. Spamming sites with tons of pages with duplicated contents are still ranking high.

I suspect that the Google Panda update was targeting big sites rather than small sites after corrections. Some webmasters are talking about Panda 1 and Panda 2.

Originally Posted by memenode

It's bad when you depend exclusively on Google, or too much, when its actions can literally make or break your business. I think that's just bad business.

Well, when customers are looking for some products the first thing they use are search engines, including Google.

I think customer loyalty goes beyond Google, and is ultimately more powerful than Google. If you've got loyal customers they will not drop off regardless of what Google does, and they are your seeds for Google-independent marketing through things like social media. The important thing is to have something that speaks for itself. Really.. I think we should treat our sites as more than just search results. They are brands, experiences, and they should have inherent value of their own. If you don't have that, you're more dependent, and more vulnerable.

On that I disagree with you, because right now many people are struggling with their budget and customer loyalty play a less important role. You know who can resist to offers like buy 2 and get 3 for free? Or some little genius who are selling the same products at a loss.

I guess we have a value because we are in business for 5 years now, but the marging are very small when you know that promotion is not cheap. I don't even talk about technical problems.

What left for us small retailer online with a tiny advertising budget compared to these giants companies? As you know, you have to find a way to

The way is limited, all depends on your advertising budget, look how much money the politicians need to win...

Indeed, everyone started small, but I think what all of the huge success stories share is not playing by the established rules, providing real value, even being disruptive (instead of just rehashing an old idea), and most importantly capturing people's attention like no others. This is a rude term, but it often pops up in my mind when I think about marketing: get them by the balls. Get inside of their minds, under their skin, and then make them feel good, so good that they wont be able to imagine life without you.

That might be an extreme, but that is in a nutshell how you become independent. I don't even think it's as difficult as it sounds. It just takes time and commitment, and most of all inspiration and motivation. It has to be something that comes from the bottom of who you are, not just something you grind for money. Then it comes easy, and it's down to experimentation, thinking out of the box, and thinking as a leader, not a follower.

Well right now in our field we are fighting with huge corporations that decided to target our niche, plus Google gave recently more ranking weight to brand corporations (I think they don't need that, but google played evil), plus they have million dollars of marketing budget including taking your wind with their money power and place Adwords link on your targeted keywords. When you see that closely there is a war going on to sell on internet.

The small business moto could be: "We are the resistance" lol